'I'm a dietitian - here's how a plant-based diet could help to benefit your health'
17.02.2024 - 16:05
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
Eating a plant-based diet can have a range of important health benefits, including increased vitamin levels and a healthier body weight. And now, new research has found it can be particularly beneficial for men's health, especially when it comes to the symptoms associated with prostate cancer.
A new study carried out by a team at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health found eating a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, grains and nuts, and reducing your meat intake, could be incredibly beneficial for men's health.
This kind of diet was linked with less common side effects that can impact prostate cancer patients, including erectile dysfunction and loss of bladder control.
The study is the latest in a long line of studies linking plant-based eating with health and wellbeing benefits. So, how else could adopting more plant-based eating be good for you?
“There are several potential health benefits to a plant-based diet,” says Vassiliki Sinopoulou, a registered dietitian and senior research assistant at University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). “A diet which is lower in meat and animal products can be associated with lower saturated fat consumption, increased vitamins and other health-promoting substances, and healthier body weight levels.
It’s not just avoiding the saturated fats in animal products that benefits health – it’s the added nutrients and fibre you get from consuming more fruit, veg and beans, too.
“Polyphenols are beneficial substances found in plant-derived foods. They can be found in berries, nuts, olives/olive oil, broccoli, and other fruits and vegetables that we all recognise as healthy. Polyphenols can also be found in foods with perhaps a more controversial reputation, such as